Shoal Creek Conservancy Feasibility Study May 17, 2013 Sponsored by: Original Austin Neighborhood Association Shoal Creek Committee Compiled & Written by: Joanna Wolaver Jimena Cruz Ted Siff Shoal Creek Conservancy Feasibility Study © 2013 Original Austin Neighborhood Association All rights reserved No part of this study may be reproduced without the express consent of the Original Austin Neighborhood Association. P.O. Box 1282 Austin, TX 78767 512-657-5414 – Fax: 512-495-9955 [email protected] www.originalaustin.org www.shoalcreekconservancy.org May 2013 Dedication This report is dedicated to all Austinites – past, present and future. Acknowledgments The Shoal Creek Conservancy Feasibility Study volunteers would like to express their gratitude and appreciation to the leadership and staff of the City of Austin departments responsible for Shoal Creek for the work they do every day; the nonprofits who work to improve Shoal Creek; the property owners along and near Shoal Creek; and the Original Austin Neighborhood Association and its Shoal Creek Committee. We also thank, acknowledge and credit all photography, unless otherwise noted, in this Report as having been taken and donated by Ted Eubanks. CONTENTS Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1 Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................1 Purpose of the Study .................................................................................................................3 History of Shoal Creek and the Trail ..........................................................................................3 Chapter 1: Current Needs and Challenges ...................................................................................7 An Urbanized Watershed ...........................................................................................................7 Infrastructure Issues ..................................................................................................................8 Management Issues...................................................................................................................9 Public Use Issues ......................................................................................................................9 Chapter 2: Current Assets .......................................................................................................... 10 Nonprofit and Community Organizations ................................................................................ 10 Nonprofit Organizations ...........................................................................................................11 Homeowners Associations along Lower Shoal Creek ............................................................ 12 Neighborhood Associations .................................................................................................... 13 Private Investments: Current and Planned ............................................................................. 14 Public Investments: Planned and Current............................................................................... 18 Chapter 3: Shoal Creek Conservancy Concept.......................................................................... 21 Vision, Mission Statement and Guiding Values ...................................................................... 21 Role of the Conservancy during the First Three Years ........................................................... 22 Chapter 4: Resources to Create and Sustain a Potential Nonprofit Conservancy ..................... 25 Required Resources ............................................................................................................... 25 Draft Budget ............................................................................................................................ 26 Trail Conservancy Case Studies ............................................................................................. 29 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 30 Appendices ................................................................................................................................. 31 Appendix 1: List of Shoal Creek Plans ....................................................................................... 32 Appendix 2: Case Study Research – Model Trail Conservancies .............................................. 33 Appendix 3: List of Major Stakeholders and Endorsers.............................................................. 47 NGOs, NAs, and HOAs ................................................................................................ 47 Private Sector............................................................................................................... 48 Individuals .................................................................................................................... 48 Appendix 4: Maps of the Lower Shoal Creek Area ..................................................................... 49 Land Use ...................................................................................................................... 49 Residential Properties .................................................................................................. 50 Watershed .................................................................................................................... 51 Floodplain/Parks .......................................................................................................... 52 Appendix 5: Meeting Minutes from Major Shoal Creek Stakeholder Lunches ........................... 53 Appendix 6: Minutes from Mission and Vision Statements Meetings ......................................... 67 Appendix 7: Shoal Creek Conservancy Feasibility Study User Survey ...................................... 81 INTRODUCTION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is the result of a six-month study to determine the feasibility of creating a sustainable nonprofit organization dedicated to the improvement of the trail, greenway, parks, water and watershed of Shoal Creek in Austin, Texas. The study was conducted by a group of volunteers supported by the leadership of the Original Austin Neighborhood Association, Cirrus Logic, Inc. and other private and public stake- holders. Shoal Creek is located in the heart of Austin and served as the original western border of the city at its founding in 1839. It is home to the city’s first trail, which extends along the creek for 4.62 miles from Lady Bird Lake north to West 38th Street, and then continues as a bike lane along Shoal Creek Boulevard to Anderson Lane. The Shoal Creek watershed is highly urbanized, with a drainage area of 12.5 square miles bordered to the south by Lady Bird Lake, to the north by Braker Lane, to the east by Lamar Bou- levard, and to the west by MoPac/Loop 1. The history of the creek, watershed and trail are described in further detail in this report. Once a jewel of the city, Shoal Creek has suffered from low maintenance and few improvements during the last 25 years. As described in depth in Chapter 1 of this report, major issues resulting from this lack of attention to Shoal Creek include flood risk; water quality; public safety; maintenance and improvement of its trails, greenway and parks; restoration of its historic bridges; and the opportunity cost of not having an overall plan for improvements. Due to rapid urbanization of the watershed, the water quality in the creek has declined, and the risk of flood damage is large, continuous and increasing. Given these concerns, the initial scope of this study, which was limited to the creek’s Lady Bird Lake to Pease Park reach, was expanded to include the entire Shoal Creek watershed. Conversations with many stakeholders revealed a significant need and interest for any new Shoal Creek–focused organization to address watershed-level issues, which are the root cause of many of the downstream challenges. As a first step, the feasibility study identified existing private, nonprofit and public sector assets and ca- pacity within the lower Shoal Creek watershed with the hope was that owners of land and buildings near Shoal Creek and nonprofits working to improve Shoal Creek would be potential partners and supporters of a Shoal Creek nonprofit. As discussed in Chapter 2, since 1996 the area surrounding lower Shoal Creek has experienced a significant growth in private investments. These investments total over $1.29 billion in completed projects, including the development of a number of major corporate headquarters and numerous downtown residences. In addition, more than $1 billion in new projects, ranging from condo- miniums to major retail developments, are under way. Significant public improvements are also planned for the lower Shoal Creek area within the next few years. Over $106 million in projects, such as the new Austin Central Library and closing the three-block-long gap in the trail are expected to be finished by 2015. Chapter 2 also identifies the many nonprofit organizations that do some work to improve the creek, but concludes that there is no one organization dedicated to coordinating all these interests and providing a strong voice for improving Shoal Creek and its trail,